Syria's Alawites pay heavy price as they bury sons

October 31, 2014 12:26 PM

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DWEIR SHEIKH SAAD, Syria (AP) — The posters announcing the deaths of Syrian soldiers are plastered on walls throughout the coastal province of Tartous, forming impromptu murals of death that illustrate the price supporters of President Bashar Assad are paying to defend his rule.

For government supporters, Assad is synonymous with Syria itself, particularly in Tartous, a scenic Mediterranean port that is majority Alawite, an offshoot of Shiite Islam that is the faith of Assad's family. For Syria's Alawite minority, there is no other way out but to back the president, despite...